Tim O'Donovan, as he does every year, has written to the Times today with the summary of the RF's activities for 2011. Mr O'Donovan keeps tabs on this himself, compiling the numbers from everyday's Court Circular. These figures are his and are summarised below:

Prince William undertook 90 engagements, despite also working full time. Catherine has undertaken 34 engagements since appearing in the Court Circular for the first time on 4 June. Prince Harry undertook 16 engagements while also working full time.

The Queen undertook 62 fewer engagements than in 2010, while the DoE undertook 26 fewer.

Mr Donovan always finishes his letter to the editor of the Times by saying 'except for Christmas Day and Easter Day, the Queen never has a day off from the official red boxes'.

The Duchess of Cambridge has thrown herself into the working life of the Royal Family since marrying into it in April, new figures show.
Since her first entry in the Court Circular of June 4, following her marriage to the Duke of Cambridge, Kate has undertaken 34 engagements including 19 overseas, according to a letter in The Times.The Press Association: Kate performs 34 royal engagements

Wow Charles and Anne are hard working Royals, aren't they?! I am shocked at the small amount from Sophie, though she does attend a few with Edward which probably come under his engagements. Do foreign Royal weddings count as engagements? Philip and Elizabeth work so hard for their age.

Well done, team!

__________________

"I am yours, you are mine, of that be sure. You are locked in my heart, the little key is lost and now you must stay there forever."

Written by Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine in the diary of her fiance, Tsarevich Nicholas.

The Duchess of Cambridge has thrown herself into the working life of the Royal Family since marrying into it in April, new figures show.
Since her first entry in the Court Circular of June 4, following her marriage to the Duke of Cambridge, Kate has undertaken 34 engagements including 19 overseas, according to a letter in The Times.The Press Association: Kate performs 34 royal engagements

Lazy Katie who?

Meaning, there goes the argument that she wouldn't be hard working once in the royal fold.

Out of interest, the PoW undertook 601 engagements last year. How does that compare with the heirs of the other European thrones? I genuinely don't know how much Haakon/Felipe/Frederik/Willem-Alexander/Victoria do.

Meaning, there goes the argument that she wouldn't be hard working once in the royal fold.

With respect, I disagree. Of the 34 engagements Catherine undertook over half (19) were overseas, the majority in the 11 days she and Prince William were in Canada and the US, that leaves 15 for the rest of the year - since 29 April.

Please correct me if I am wrong (I often am) but I understood the list was compiled from the Court Circular.

The Court Circular lists attendance at the Derby, the church service for Prince Phillip's 90th birthday, trooping the colour and the brief meeting with President and Mrs Obama to thank them for the wedding gift they donated.

That leaves 11 engagements over an 8 month period.

I am sure that over the coming years Catherine will increase her workload dramatically and I know that she is finding her feet in the Family. I am not criticising her but merely pointing out that press reports of her "throwing herself" into her her new work as a member of the Royal Family are misleading. Catherine has had a very, very light load this year.

Of the 34 engagements Catherine undertook over half (19) were overseas, the majority in the 11 days she and Prince William were in Canada and the US.

A minor point, perhaps, but the 'engagements' Catherine 'undertook' in the US should not count for anything. There was nothing official about them. The US was suppose to be a side-trip undertaken after their official Canada trip - it was 'sold' as a private excursion at the time, which it was, even though its subsequently been packaged as though it were an official 'progress'.

With respect, I disagree. Of the 34 engagements Catherine undertook over half (19) were overseas, the majority in the 11 days she and Prince William were in Canada and the US, that leaves 15 for the rest of the year - since 29 April.

Please correct me if I am wrong (I often am) but I understood the list was compiled from the Court Circular.

The Court Circular lists attendance at the Derby, the church service for Prince Phillip's 90th birthday, trooping the colour and the brief meeting with President and Mrs Obama to thank them for the wedding gift they donated.

That leaves 11 engagements over an 8 month period.

I am sure that over the coming years Catherine will increase her workload dramatically and I know that she is finding her feet in the Family. I am not criticising her but merely pointing out that press reports of her "throwing herself" into her her new work as a member of the Royal Family are misleading. Catherine has had a very, very light load this year.

Since the article states that her first entry in the Circular wasn't until June, I don't think the Obama visit is being counted - their visit was in May.

Not counting Trooping, any family events (like Christmas), Remembrance Day or the Canadian/US tour, it looks like she did about 13 or 14 engagements (I got that number while looking at a year-end review of her style). So, if the overseas numbers are accurate, it doesn't appear that events like Epsom or Philip's birthday are part of the 34 engagements. It seems to be strictly W&K official engagements and the tour.

I honestly don't know what the average workload is for an heir to the heir's wife. How many engagements do they typically do? How many overseas tours?

I will say that Kate has done a great job so far and it appears she'll have a busy 2012 with the Olympics, her second overseas tour, the Queen's Jubilee, and her charity announcements.

Since the article states that her first entry in the Circular wasn't until June, I don't think the Obama visit is being counted - their visit was in May.

Not counting any of the family events, Trooping or the Canadian/US tour, it looks like she did about 13 or 14 engagements (I got that number while looking at a year-end review of her style). Although to be honest, I don't know why the overseas tour wouldn't count. So, if your overseas numbers are accurate, it doesn't appear that events like Epsom or Philip's birthday are part of the 34 engagements. It seems to be official

I honestly don't know what the average workload is for an heir to the heir's wife. How many engagements do they typically do?

I will say that Kate has done a great job so far and it appears she'll have a busy 2012 with the Olympics, her second overseas tour, the Queen's Jubilee, and her charity announcements.

A few points in reply:-

I don't know how the list is worked out, I'm just going off the numbers that have been reported. I don't know how accurate it is, again, I am just going off what has been reported in the article quoted above.

I can't say what the typical number of engagements is for a the wife of an heir's heir. I think the last one was Princess Mary and I don't think the situation in 1901 is comparable with today.

The number of overseas engagements is not my number, it's the number quoted in the article. If it's accurate it means that over half of Catherine's engagements took place within an 11 day period (there were either one or two engagements in Denmark depending upon how the engagements are counted). I don't suggest that the overseas engagements shouldn't be counted. My reason for discounting them in my post was purely because it means that absent those two weeks in North America, Catherine's calendar has not exactly been packed.

I know she's finding her feet and I know her workload will increase but the Press Association article says Catherine has been throwing herself into work. I don't think 11 or 15 engagements in 8 months is "throwing herself" into work.

Considering she hasn't even been an official member of the royal family for a full year, I think the Duchess has worked hard. I feel satisfied with the quantity as well as the quality of her appearances and representations of the BRF.

this 11 or 15 engagments how long they take to be prepeare becasue that should be in consideration too I suppose some ones take longer to prepeare than others but this is the key and how much freetime she really had?

I don't know how the list is worked out, I'm just going off the numbers that have been reported. I don't know how accurate it is, again, I am just going off what has been reported in the article quoted above.

I can't say what the typical number of engagements is for a the wife of an heir's heir. I think the last one was Princess Mary and I don't think the situation in 1901 is comparable with today.

The number of overseas engagements is not my number, it's the number quoted in the article. If it's accurate it means that over half of Catherine's engagements took place within an 11 day period (there were either one or two engagements in Denmark depending upon how the engagements are counted). I don't suggest that the overseas engagements shouldn't be counted. My reason for discounting them in my post was purely because it means that absent those two weeks in North America, Catherine's calendar has not exactly been packed.

I know she's finding her feet and I know her workload will increase but the Press Association article says Catherine has been throwing herself into work. I don't think 11 or 15 engagements in 8 months is "throwing herself" into work.

Just my personal opinion. I don't mean to offend.

Sorry about initially calling them your numbers (you're using the unedited version of my post). I actually changed that last night once I realized my mistake. I also changed the part about the overseas tour once I realized that you weren't implying they shouldn't count.

My question about the heir of an heir's wife wasn't really specifically to you. I often see Kate compared to other wives of the heir, so I'm just genuinely curious to see if there are any current RF's with a similar situation.

No worries though, you're not offending. While I'm personally satisfied with Kate's workload last year (she has also been preparing behind the scenes - visiting charities, etc.), I know others will completely disagree. Such is life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patra

Considering she hasn't even been an official member of the royal family for a full year, I think the Duchess has worked hard. I feel satisfied with the quantity as well as the quality of her appearances and representations of the BRF.

I would agree. I can find no fault here. We all know that if she had been dumped onto the scene and made some kind of faux pas (matching wellies with Harry ) it would have been major news. She IS the wife of the heir to the heir, after all. I think she is doing a lovely job and look forward to seeing what 2012 brings.

A minor point, perhaps, but the 'engagements' Catherine 'undertook' in the US should not count for anything. There was nothing official about them. The US was suppose to be a side-trip undertaken after their official Canada trip - it was 'sold' as a private excursion at the time, which it was, even though its subsequently been packaged as though it were an official 'progress'.

I believe the private excursion factor was merely a distinction on who was footing the bill for the trip. Canada paid for their part of the trip as an official visit. LA was a private side trip..meaning the duchy of Cornwall picked up the tab once out of Canada. As it was to advance william's private charities. And they could set their schedule accordingly. Which is why there was such diverse array of engagements. As for kate working....She was 'on display' throughout the entire time she was in LA. Every time she had to walk out the door she was photographed meeting and greeting various organizations for fundraising and awareness as the Duchess of Cambridge. They were in LA for 3 days and they were packed with engagements. I think all in all it was an official trip.

Her most important job at the moment is not to represent the Royal family, as she is not married to a full working Royal but to a Royal who works full time. At the moment I guess that she is trying to get pregnant to become the mother of the next heir of the heir of the Heir. I think she does a great job in appearing in her new role at her husband's side but she does not yet need to build up her own role as a working Royal only to go into pregnancy leave the next moment. Her time will come, sooner or a bit later and for the sake of William and Catherine as a couple and future parents I hope it will be later.

I believe the private excursion factor was merely a distinction on who was footing the bill for the trip. Canada paid for their part of the trip as an official visit. LA was a private side trip..meaning the duchy of Cornwall picked up the tab once out of Canada. As it was to advance william's private charities. And they could set their schedule accordingly. Which is why there was such diverse array of engagements. As for kate working....She was 'on display' throughout the entire time she was in LA. Every time she had to walk out the door she was photographed meeting and greeting various organizations for fundraising and awareness as the Duchess of Cambridge. They were in LA for 3 days and they were packed with engagements. I think all in all it was an official trip.

Thank you for the insight. I get the distinction now. Makes sense. Especially that the Duchy of Cornwall was footing the bill in the US. I'm relieved about that.

I still maintain it was not an 'official' visit to the US - maybe that will come another time. I recall people on this forum making fun of the LA mayor and such - indicating that the only reason the government types were present was to be around 'Royalty'. It didn't seem to occur to anyone that they were doing their job as public representatives of Los Angeles (and California) to welcome the visitors on an 'official' visit. Serious hitters went so far as to make a point to greet them at the airport, doing their duty to be welcoming - but still it was chuckled at. Go figure!

Personally, I sensed strain in Kate during the US portion. She must have been exhausted by that point and she really could have used some real downtime - at the beach, just kicking back - instead of meeting people in a foreign country who are very different from adoring subjects. Poor kid.

Does anyone know how the number of engagements carried out by each member of the family is calculated?

If, for example, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have a day of engagements in, say, York which includes visiting the Minster, meeting with business leaders, visiting a new exhibition at the museum and a school (all in different parts of the city), is that 1 or 4 engagements?

Alternately, if the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were to attend El Alamein Barracks to hand out campaign medals to the 4th Montgomery Regiment and afterwards had lunch in the sergeant's mess before a reception in the officer's mess is that 1, 2 or 3 engagements?